An Act of True Love
by mamaXunicorn
Summary: An alternate/added scene in 3x11. Rumplestiltskin takes a little bit longer to leave his shop and Pan gets a little bit closer to killing Neal.


"...I think I'll start with these two."

Peter Pan approached the frozen group, keeping his gaze focused on Neal and Belle. He stopped in front of them and looked between them, almost contemplative.

"Hm, you both look so adorable. Hard to tell which one to kill first." He barely paused a moment before he let out a tiny scoff. "No it isn't...you." He pointed at Neal. "You first."

Though he couldn't move, Neal's gaze hardened, glaring at Pan. Pan glared right back at him for a few seconds and then a devilish smirk tugged at his lips as his eyebrow rose.

"Baelfire." The name escaped Peter's lips in a bitter hiss. "Rumplestiltskin's beloved only son. My only regret is that he's not going to be here to witness this."

The glare snapped back onto his face, his eyes flashing in rage and hate as he lunged forward and grabbed a hold of Neal's arm, yanking him, only for a moment from the magic freezing him and pulling him in front of the group.

Neal stumbled against the force and attempted to pull back but he was once again frozen before he could even try, Pan's hand a vice grip on his upper arm.

"But just because your dear old dad isn't here to see it doesn't mean I can't make it a show for everyone else." Pan sneered viciously as he leaned in, only inches away from Neal's face. He met Neal's dead stare head on for a few achingly long seconds and then his eyes flickered over Neal's shoulder to the group behind him. His eyes landed on Emma first, her eyes slightly widened in panic, only darkening when she caught his gaze and he smirked. "Like Emma...your dear Emma." His eyes flickered back to Neal. Got stood up, did ya laddie? Oh yes, I'm aware of that. I'm aware of everything." He clicked his tongue, shaking his head, slowly, mockingly and moved his hand from Neal's arm to his chest, resting over his heart. "I've been thinking about how I'm going to do this. Ripping your heart out is nice and easy but...it appears Emma's already done that for me. I can't do much with a broken heart." He tapped his fingers against Neal's chest and once again smirked at his glare and looked back over to Emma.

If looks could kill, Pan would have been dead on the spot with the look in Emma's eyes. Anger, panic, fear and a tiny amount of guilt provided a dangerous, fiery combination that lit ablaze in green eyes.

Pan gave a small, dark chuckle and then turned his attention to Henry, stuffed safely between Emma and Regina.

Pan's eyes narrowed as he locked eyes with Henry. "Your son has given me great trouble, Baelfire. Runs in the family it seems." He scoffed in distaste. "You could have been one of us Henry but you'd rather be with your family. How sweet."

Against Henry's back, Emma's fingers twitched. Once, twice, three times.

"Family gets you nowhere, Henry." Pan hissed darkly and then quickly turned back to Neal. "Your son is going to watch you die but don't worry...they'll all soon forget you anyway."

Pan removed his hand off of Neal and keeping a glare fixated on him, swiped his hand through the air. In the same second, Neal was released from the magic hold but dropped to his knees, crying out in agony.

Pan grinned maliciously, his face scrunching up as his hand hovered over Neal's huddled form and Neal let out another strangled cry every time he'd flex his fingers.

"Goodbye, Baelfire." Pan sneered and closed his fist sharply. Neal let out a heart shattering cry, closing his eyes tightly and digging his palms into the hard cement beneath him.

Not a moment later, another shout broke through the silence and caught Pan's attention to the group, temporarily loosening whatever power he had over Neal.

A bright shimmering blast surrounded Emma and within seconds she was free and reaching for the gun at her belt.

She took a few quick strides towards Pan, gun raised, eyes ablaze. "Let him go." She snarled and Pan's brow shot up and a look of delighted surprise danced in his eyes.

"Oh, look at that...you escaped. Bravo, Emma. You're more powerful than I thought. I suppose true love really is the most powerful magic of all." He hummed, glancing back down at Neal, still hunched over in pain, his breathing shallow and heavy. "I guess I was wrong, Bae."

Neal slowly lifted his head at the mention of his name, his jaw clenched together slightly, his face scrunched up as he fought hard against the pain ripping through every cell in his body.

"Emma does love you...its just a shame its not enough."

Pan turned, raising his arm but before he could move much further, a shot rang out.

A gasp escaped Pan's lips as he stumbled back, effectively releasing the hold he had on Neal, and glanced down at the bleeding hole in his chest.

He looked quickly back up at Emma who still had the gun trained on him, her face set in fierce determination.

Pan's lips curled up in a snarl and he raised his hand again only to have a pair of strong arms wrap around him from behind, squeezing him tightly right over his fresh bullet wound causing him to cry out.

"I don't think so." Rumplestiltskin hissed in his ear and squeezed him again, clutching him tight against his chest. He looked over to Emma, "I've got him."

Emma hesitated a moment but then nodded, quickly shoving the gun back into its holster and immediately ran to Neal's side, kneeling beside him and wrapping an arm around his back. "You okay?" She asked in concern.

Neal nodded, his breathing still heavy but released from all pain as he slowly sat up. He looked over and met Emma's gaze, full of worry and concern and fear and he nodded again to reassure her. "Yeah, I'm okay."

She let out a soft sigh of relief, a bare hint of a smile crossing her lips and he couldn't help but return it.

Her arm still securely wrapped around his back, she slowly helped him to his feet and once he was steady, they both fixed their attention on Pan and Rumplestiltskin, their gazes hardening.

Rumplestiltskin shot a brief look of concern to his son and Neal gave a brief nod in return.

"Oh very good!" Pan exclaimed with a laugh. "Very good indeed. You all are so clever and so very touching." He grunted again as Rumple squeezed him again.

"You'd be wise to shut it right now." Rumplestiltskin advised darkly.

"No...you see...that little stunt you just pulled was clever but merely a minor distraction." He smirked smugly and with ease, ripped free of Rumple's hold.

Blood soaked his shirt but the bullet wound was gone, healed as if it had never been there at all.

"You caught me unprepared, its not easy to do that." He glanced over at Emma who instinctively took a step closer to Neal, standing protectively in front of him, her eyes narrowing. "But as you know...Peter Pan never fails."

"I'm not going to let you touch any one of them." Rumplestiltskin voiced, bringing Pan's attention back to him.

Pan scoffed humorlessly. "Oh, I'd love to see that."

Rumplestiltskin inched his way closer, a determined glare set on his features. "Oh you will because I have a job to finish and I have to do it whatever it takes. No loopholes...and what needs to be done has a price. A price I'm finally willing to pay."

Pan smirked at him quietly and Rumplestiltskin met his stare before calmly looking over to Neal.

"I used the curse to find you Bae...to tell you I made a mistake...to make sure you had a chance at happiness and that happiness is possible...just not with me." Neal's eyes widened slightly as he realized what was happening.

"Papa..." He whispered in a warning and Rumple smiled sadly, nodding quietly to his son.

"Pretty, pretty words..." Pan taunted from beside him but Rumple ignored him, choosing to focus fully on his son.

"I love you, Bae." He told him sincerely and with every ounce of love he could pour into his voice.

Neal's jaw clenched and he frowned deeply, slowly shaking his head. "Papa don't..."

"It's alright, Bae." Rumplestiltskin nodded to him assuringly. "I accept what needs to be done."

Emma frowned at Neal's tensed form beside her and slowly looked up at him, silently reaching for his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

His brow furrowed and he swallowed thickly, squeezing Emma's hand in return but his gaze would not leave his father.

After another moment of father and son locked on each other's gazes, Rumplestiltskin reluctantly broke it and looked toward Belle who was still frozen behind Neal and Emma.

"And I love you, Belle. You made me stronger." He nodded to her meaningfully as tears welled in her eyes.

"Stronger?" Pan scoffed at his ear, breaking the tender moment. "But still...no magic." He motioned to the cuff around Rumple's wrist.

"Oh but I don't need it." Rumplestiltskin turned back to his father in confidence. "You see you may have lost your shadow but there's one thing you're forgetting."

"And what's that?" Pan snapped viciously, his anger hiding the sliver of fear in his eyes.

Rumple grinned knowingly back at him. "So have I. I sent it away with something to hide." He slowly raised his hand in the air and a low screech pierced the air as the shadow was summoned back to him and Pan raised his eyes in fear as the shadow placed the dagger into Rumplestiltskin's hand.

Rumplestiltskin grabbed a hold of Pan, crushing him to him one again as his shadow reunited with his body.

Pan grunted as he fought against Rumple's hold on him. "What are you doing?"

"You see the only way for you to die is if we both die and now...now I'm ready." Rumplestiltskin practically growled in his ear and then with one fluid motion, plunged the dagger into Pan's back.

Neal winced, his body stiffening and Emma gripped his hand tighter, watching the scene unfold before them.

Pan let out a cry and stopped struggling and the two fell calm as pain rushed through both of their bodies.

A cloud of black magic surrounded them and when it settled Malcolm was left in Pan's place, shaking violently from the transformation and the pain now wracking his old and frail body.

"Hello Papa." Rumple hissed in his ear.

"Rumple please..." Malcolm begged, his voice weak. "You can stop this...remove the dagger. We can start over..." He turned his head, offering his son a weak attempt at a hopeful smile. "We can have a happy ending."

"Ah but I'm a villain!" Rumple countered. "And villains don't get happy endings..." And with that he gave one final twist of the dagger and Malcolm grunted in pain.

Rumple glanced down at his father, falling limp against him and shakily brought his hand to cup his cheek. Magic surrounded them, emanating from the dagger and he leaned into his father, pressing a final kiss to his cheek as the magic fully encompassed them.

Not a few seconds later and they were gone from sight, the scroll clattering to the ground in their place.

There was nothing but silence in the still air as Neal stared at the spot his father had occupied not moments before. Emma frowned heavily, blinking in shock before looking up at Neal.

"Neal..."

The sound of Emma's voice seemed to pull him out of his shock and he took a shuddering breath, blinking rapidly past the tears pushing at the back of his eyes.

Then he cleared his throat and his lips parted as if to say something but his jaw then snapped closed.

Emma didn't know what else to say...she didn't know what else she could say. Not right now.

She instead just squeezed his hand tightly and brought her other hand to rest over his arm, her thumb tracing small comforting circles there, letting him know she was there.

Behind them, the magic holding the rest of them frozen released and Belle was the first one to break the silence with a sob.

The heart wrenching sound broke something in Neal and his eyes fluttered closed as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Emma peered over her shoulder, frowning heavily, her heart aching at the distraught Belle now curled up on the hard ground sobbing into her hands. Part of her wanted to go to her but she couldn't bring herself to leave Neal's side.

Thankfully her mother had caught her look and walked over to kneel at Belle's side, resting a comforting hand on her back.

Emma gave her mother a gracious nod and then turned back to Neal whose head was bowed against his chest, his face scrunched up as he tried so desperately to fight the emotions trying to take over him.

Wordlessly, she slipped her arms around his middle and gently pulled him into her comforting embrace. He resisted her for a few moments but then finally relaxed against her and his arms came around her as he held her to him, burying his face in her hair, allowing himself to grieve in the arms of the woman he loved.

Emma closed her eyes, feeling his pain as if it were her own and trailed her fingers up and down his back as she knew he loved.

It only had to be a minute that they were standing there, everyone in silence before Neal pulled away from Emma. He cleared his throat and straightened up but met her eyes with a silent thank you and her lips twitched sadly, returning a curt nod in reply.

"Regina..." He cleared his throat again, looking over Emma's shoulder at Regina who was now holding the scroll. "Regina don't let him die for nothing."


End file.
